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The infliction of many casualties on the German front divisions and the capture of the villages of Courcelette, Martinpuich and Flers had been a considerable tactical victory but the German defensive success on the British right flank, made exploitation and the use of cavalry impossible. Tanks were used in battle for the first time in history and the Canadian Corps and the New Zealand Division fought for the first time on the Somme. On 16 September, Jagdstaffel 2, a specialist fighter squadron, began operations with five new Albatros D.I fighters, which were capable of challenging British air supremacy for the first time since the beginning of the battle.

第二次世界大戦の独ソ戦でドイツ軍がスターリングラードの戦いに敗れてから 勝機は一度でもなかったのでしょうか？逆転の可能性は皆無だったのですか？

Tactical developments Field artillery available to the British divisions covered a 1-mile (1.6 km) front, with 19 heavy guns in support, while the Tenth Army divisional frontages were .75-mile (1.21 km) wide with 35 heavy guns. The smaller number of British guns was matched by a lack of ammunition. The offensives were to begin with a continuous and methodical bombardment for 96 hours, in which counter-battery fire was as important as trench destruction. A four-hour intense bombardment was to be fired, before the infantry attacks in Artois and Champagne began simultaneously on 25 September. The infantry were to advance as an "irresistible mass", with reserves arranged in depth to move forward at the same time as the leading troops, ready to take over and maintain the momentum of the assault. Previous attacks in Artois had been obstructed by the many villages and industrial premises in the region, which were easy for the Germans to fortify and use to delay attacks. The Franco-British heavy artillery was to be used to destroy German fortified houses and villages, which were proof against field artillery. Such tactics were expected to break through both German defensive positions and enable the cavalry to rush forward and widen the breakthroughs, before advancing on distant objectives in Belgium. If the attacks succeeded the rest of the Franco-British-Belgian armies would join in a general offensive and force the German armies into open warfare, in which Allied numerical superiority would be overwhelming. The artillery of the 9th (Scottish) Division was arranged in two mobile groups and a reserve. One field artillery brigade supported each of the two attacking infantry brigades and two howitzer brigades with a mountain battery, were held back for counter-battery fire and targets of opportunity on the divisional front. The three brigade field companies of the Royal Engineers and the pioneer battalion were placed in reserve. Two 9.2-inch howitzers were dug in near a wood at Beuvry with arrangements made for ground and air observation of their fire and Russian saps were dug towards the redoubt. On the night before the attack the saps were opened and the ends joined, to make a jumping-off trench 150 yards (140 m) away from the face of the redoubt.[5]The 9th Division commanded by Major-General George Thesiger was to attack with 26th Brigade and 28th Brigade on a front of 1,500 yards (1,400 m) between the left flank of the 7th Division and the Vermelles–La Bassée railway to capture the German front and support trenches. The divisional objectives were the buildings and dump of Fosse 8 and the Hohenzollern Redoubt. The Dump was a flat-topped spoil-heap 20 feet (6.1 m) high with a commanding view and had been made the principal German observation post in the area. When captured The Dump would give the British observation over Haisnes and St. Elie. On the right the 26th Brigade with two battalions, was to overrun the Hohenzollern Redoubt and Fosse 8 in the first rush. The two supporting battalions would then attack south of the fosse and advance on Haisnes, while the leading battalions reorganised to follow on in support, as the fosse was consolidated by the 28th Brigade. The division was then to capture the redoubt, The Dump and Fosse 8 before advancing to the Lens–La Bassée road; after reaching the road the division was to press on to the German second position between Cité St. Elie and Haisnes. The 27th Brigade in reserve, was then to advance through Douvrin to the Haute Deûle Canal (Canal de la Deûle), with the 7th Division on the right flank; XI Corps would then pass through to continue the advance.

動画で見る ウリ坊 が可愛過ぎて、家内に 「 飼っても良い ？ 」 と 聞きましたら、 「 バカ ！ 」 の 一言で 冷たく却下されてしまい、いっそ グレちゃおうかと考えてます。 ところで 私事で恐縮ですが、当時１０代だった 家内と知り合い 今年でちょうど４０年、結婚して ３０年の歳月が流れました、早いものですねぇ。 宗家の嫡孫に生まれ付き、幼い頃より 祖父母 （ ＋ 祖父のお妾さん ）・ 両親から ありったけの愛情を注がれ続けたせいか、甘ちゃんで チヤホヤされる事に 聊か 慣れ過ぎた私に、常に 冷や水を浴びせ 手綱を引いてくれたのが 女房殿であります。 独身時代 穴の開いたバケツだった私は、お金の大切さ ・ 節約マインド 他、彼女から学んだ事は本当に多い。 他方 うちの母は 他人を褒める人では 決してありません、ましてや 倅の嫁さんとなれば尚の事そうでしょう、長い 紆余曲折はありましたが、そんな気難しい母とも 上手くやってくれまして、今では 私以上に 母とメールのやり取りをしているようで、その点でも 感謝してもしきれません。 女性とは 随分付き合いましたが、他の誰とも 恐らく 長続きはしなかったでしょう、幾つかの × が 付いた挙句、今頃は やもめ暮らしに蛆が湧いてたはずです。 褒め過ぎてもなんですから、一応 落としときますと、うちの家内は 異常なケチです、それも １円２円をケチる、 スーパーで袋なんか買おうものなら 激怒するレベルでありまして。 その他 最近 私が暇なものですから、時々 買い物を頼まれたりしますが、「 キャベツ が ×円 以下 、大根が ×円 以下なら買っといて ！ 　」・・と、微妙なリクエストを出して来る、無論 その際 １０％ の割引券 ・・ 、若しくは シニア・パス を持たされるのは、言うまでもありません。 我々 亭主は、嫁さんがいなければ 買い物一つ出来ないのかと 痛感する、 今日この頃であります。 以上 前振りが長くなりましたが、奥様 ・ 御主人 ・ 恋人 ・・ 誰でも結構、貴方の大切な人へ、感謝の言葉をお聞かせ下さい。

General Stopford is blamed for the failure of the Suvla operation but responsibility ultimately lay with Lord Kitchener who, as Secretary of State for War, had appointed the elderly and inexperienced general to an active corps command, and with Sir Ian Hamilton who accepted Stopford's appointment and then failed to impose his will on his subordinate. On 13 August Hamilton had written in his diary, "Ought I have resigned sooner than allow generals old and inexperienced to be foisted up on me." By then it was too late and Stopford's departure contributed to Hamilton's downfall which came on 15 October when he was sacked as the commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. Under General de Lisle's command, the Suvla front was reorganized and reinforced with the arrival of the 29th Division from Helles and the 2nd Mounted Division from Egypt (minus their horses). The fighting climaxed on 21 August with the Battle of Scimitar Hill, the largest battle of the Gallipoli campaign. When it too failed, activity at Suvla subsided into sporadic fighting until it was evacuated by the British in late December. Conditions during the summer had been appalling because of heat, flies, and lack of sanitation. On 15 November there was a deluge of rain and again on 26/27 November a major rainstorm flooded trenches up to 4 feet deep. This was succeeded by a blizzard of snow and two nights of heavy frost. At Suvla, 220 men drowned or froze to death and there were 12,000 cases of frostbite or exposure. In surprising contrast to the campaign itself, the withdrawals from Gallipoli were well planned and executed, with many successful deceptions to prevent the Turks realising that withdrawals were taking place. Minimal losses were experienced, and many guns and other equipment were also taken off. English physicist Henry Moseley, famous for the discovery of the atomic number, died in this battle to a sniper bullet.Following the appointment of Wing Captain Frederick Sykes to the command of Royal Naval Air Service units in the eastern Mediterranean in July 1915, plans were put in place for air reinforcements to be made available to Sykes. However, the landing at Suvla Bay began before the reinforcements arrived. Nonetheless, Sykes's aviators did succeed in destroying several Ottoman ships which hindered the resupply of Ottoman troops. This interdiction forced the Ottomans to depend on land resupply over an extended route. While this did have a diminishing effect on Ottoman ammunition stocks, the failure to close the land routes meant that it was not decisive.

The Battle of Sari Bair (Turkish: Sarı Bayır Harekâtı), also known as the August Offensive (Turkish: Ağustos Taarruzları), represented the final attempt made by the British in August 1915 to seize control of the Gallipoli peninsula from the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. At the time of the battle, the Gallipoli Campaign had raged on two fronts – Anzac and Helles – for three months since the Allied land invasion of 25 April 1915. With the Anzac front locked in a tense stalemate, the Allies had attempted to carry the offensive on the Helles battlefield – at enormous cost and for little gain. In August, the British command proposed a new operation to reinvigorate the campaign by capturing the Sari Bair ridge, the high ground that dominated the middle of the Gallipoli peninsula above the Anzac landing. The main operation started on 6 August with a fresh landing 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Anzac at Suvla Bay in conjunction with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The Allies mounted an attack north into the rugged country alongside the Sari Bair range with the aim of capturing the high ground and linking with the Suvla landing. At Helles, the British and French were now to remain largely on the defensive.The battle should properly be known as the "Battle of Kocaçimentepe" which was the correct Turkish name for the ridge and its highest peak (meaning "Great Grass Hill"). The peak was known to the British as "Hill 971" and they mistakenly applied the name for a lesser ridge to the main range (Sarı Bayır, meaning "Yellow Slope", which ended at the imposing bluff above Anzac Cove known as "The Sphinx").For this offensive the commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, General Sir Ian Hamilton, was provided with three British New Army divisions; the 10th (Irish) Division, the 11th (Northern) Division and the 13th (Western) Division — all previously untried in battle. He was later reinforced with two Territorial Army divisions; the 53rd (Welsh) Division and the 54th (East Anglian) Division and one division of dismounted yeomanry; the 2nd Mounted Division. The Suvla landing was to be made by the British IX Corps, under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Stopford who had retired in 1909 and had never commanded men in battle. His appointment was made based solely on seniority but his hesitancy during the preparations for the landing should have warned Hamilton that he was not a fit choice for the command. The Ottomans were well aware that a renewal of the offensive was imminent. There had been some doubt about whether the British would abandon the campaign but this was dispelled when Winston Churchill made a careless speech in Dundee, stating that the battle would continue, whatever the sacrifices. The Battle of Sari Bair サリ・ベアの戦い

Stopford's IX Corps comprised the British 10th (Irish) and 11th Divisions. At the time of the landing on 6 August the British were confronted by three Ottoman battalions under the command of a Bavarian cavalry officer, Major Wilhelm Willmer whose task was to delay the British until reinforcements could arrive from Bulair, 30 miles (48 km) away. Stopford, who had decided to command the landings from HMS Jonquil that was anchored offshore, slept during the attack instead. The 11th Division landed on the night of 6 August and two brigades of the 10th Division landed the following morning. The landings, made in the dark without the aid of reliable reconnaissance, suffered from the same confusion that reigned at Anzac landing on 25 April. Lighters ran aground on sandbars so that the troops had to wade some distance to get ashore. Many units became intermingled and officers were unable to locate their objectives. Lala Baba was captured by the 6th Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment in what was the first combat action by any unit of the New Army of Lord Kitchener. The original objectives were the capture of the ridge lines to the north (Kiretch Tepe) and east (Tekke Tepe) and the line of hills to the south on the Anafarta Spur. Stopford's 'caution' and Hamilton's failure to exert his will on his subordinate commanders, meant the objectives were diluted to little more than securing the beach. By evening on 7 August, with the chain of command breaking down, progress had become minimal. Mostly due to Stopford still "commanding" from offshore, however, a lack of supplies, especially drinking water, weren't helping matters. To the south east Chocolate Hill and Green Hill were taken in the evening with minimal resistance but constant harassment by shrapnel and sniper fire. The British suffered 1,700 casualties on the first day at Suvla. General Sanders was incensed at commander of the 7th and 12th divisions, Colonel Fevzi Bey, for not taking advantage of the Allied disarray at Suvla and pounce on them before they got organized. Turks not expecting a major landing at Suvla had to rush in the two divisions and Fevzi Bey dreaded night attacks, which were rarely successful. Sanders relieved Fevzi Bey immediately and gave the responsibility to Mustafa Kemal who was the commander of the 19th division. Basically he was given the command of a whole group responsible for the front from Anzac Cove to Saros. He immediately planned for an attack along the Anafarta Hills. Given his success at Ariburnu earlier in spring, Mustafa Kemal's arrival boosted the Ottoman morale.

The Battle of the Nek (Turkish: Kılıçbayır Muharebesi) was a minor battle that took place on 7 August 1915, during the Gallipoli campaign of World War I. "The Nek" was a narrow stretch of ridge on the Gallipoli Peninsula. The name derives from the Afrikaans word for a "mountain pass" but the terrain itself was a perfect bottleneck and easy to defend, as had been proven during an Ottoman attack in June. It connected Australian and New Zealand trenches on the ridge known as "Russell's Top" to the knoll called "Baby 700" on which the Ottoman defenders were entrenched. The campaign on the Gallipoli Peninsula had begun in April 1915, but over the following months had developed into a stalemate. In an effort to break the deadlock, the British and their allies launched an offensive to capture the Sari Bair range. As part of this effort, a feint attack by Australian troops was planned at the Nek to support New Zealand troops assaulting Chunuk Bair. Early on 7 August 1915, two regiments of the Australian 3rd Light Horse Brigade, one of the formations under the command of Major General Alexander Godley for the offensive, mounted a futile bayonet attack on the Ottoman trenches on Baby 700. Due to poor co-ordination and inflexible decision making, the Australians suffered heavy casualties for no gain. A total of 600 Australians took part in the assault, assaulting in four waves; 372 were killed or wounded. Ottoman casualties were negligible.A narrow saddle, the Nek connected the Australian and New Zealand trenches on Walker's Ridge at a plateau designated as "Russell's Top" (known as Yuksek Sirt to the Ottomans) to the knoll called "Baby 700" (Kilic Bayir), on which the Ottoman defenders were entrenched in what the historian Chris Coulthard-Clark describes as "the strongest position at Anzac". The immediate area was known to the British and Empire troops as the Anzac sector, and the allied landing site was dubbed Anzac Cove, after the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The Nek was between 30–50 metres (98–164 ft) wide; on each side, the ground sloped steeply down to deep valleys 150 metres (490 ft) below. These valleys were Monash Valley to the south and Malone's Gulley to the north.

The Ottoman front line at the Nek consisted of two lines of trenches, with machine guns positioned on the flanks on spur lines, which provided clear fields of fire into no man's land in front of the Ottoman position. Behind this another eight trenches existed, tiered along the slopes towards Baby 700. At least five groups of machine guns – approximately 30 altogether – were located in the area, providing direct fire support to the Ottoman troops holding the Nek.These positions were widely dispersed and positioned in depth, at least 200 yards (180 m) from the Ottoman front line. The commanders of the two Ottoman regiments occupying positions around the Nek had chosen not to cover their trenches, despite orders from their divisional headquarters, due to concerns that a bombardment would collapse the roofs and block communication through the trenches, similar to what had occurred at Lone Pine.[20]For the three months since the 25 April landings, the Anzac beachhead had been a stalemate. On 19 May, Ottoman troops had attempted to break the deadlock with a counter-attack on Anzac Cove, but had suffered heavy casualties. In August, an Allied offensive (which later became known as the Battle of Sari Bair) was intended to break the deadlock by capturing the high ground of the Sari Bair range, and linking the Anzac front with a new landing to the north at Suvla. Along with the main advance north out of the Anzac perimeter, supporting attacks were planned from the existing trench positions. Higher-level conceptual planning for the offensive was undertaken by the commander of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, Lieutenant General William Birdwood, and Colonel Andrew Skeen; more detailed tactical planning devolved to other staff. Tactical command of the offensive to secure Sari Bair was given to Godley, who was at the time in command of the New Zealand and Australian Division. As part of the effort to secure Baby 700, Godley, assisted by Birdwood, planned a breakthrough from the Nek. The official Australian historian Charles Bean writes that concerns about "attacking unaided" meant that plans were made to co-ordinate the attack with other actions. The attack at the Nek was meant to coincide with an attack by New Zealand troops from Chunuk Bair, which was to be captured during the night. The light horsemen were to attack across the Nek to Baby 700 while the New Zealanders descended from the rear from Chunuk Bair onto Battleship Hill, the next knoll above Baby 700. Other attacks were to be made by the 1st Light Horse Brigade at Pope's Hill and the 2nd Light Horse Brigade at Quinn's Post.The 3rd Light Horse Brigade was chosen for the attack at the Nek. This formation was commanded by Colonel Frederic Hughes, and consisted of the 8th, 9th and 10th Light Horse Regiments. For the attack, the 8th and 10th would provide the assault troops, while the 9th was placed in reserve. Some of its machine guns, positioned on Turk's Point, about 120 metres (390 ft) from the Nek, would provide direct fire support during the attack. Like the other Australian Light Horse and the New Zealand Mounted Rifles formations, the 3rd Light Horse Brigade had been dispatched to Gallipoli in May as infantry reinforcements, leaving their horses in Egypt. The area around the Nek was held by the 18th Regiment,under the command of Major Mustafa Bey. The regiment formed part of Mustafa Kemal's Ottoman 19th Division. The 27th Regiment, under Lieutenant Colonel Sefik Bey, also held part of the line south from the Nek to Quinn's Post (Bomba Sirt).

On 25 November 1915, shortly before the decision to completely withdraw from the peninsula, Godley was temporarily promoted to lieutenant general and appointed corps commander. After the evacuation (he left the day before the rest of his troops), in recognition of his services at Gallipoli, he was made Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, second highest of the seven British orders of chivalry.[89]In the aftermath of the battle, Bean covered the fighting at the Nek in a September 1915 article for The Argus that was heavily censored. A January 1916 report by the British commander during the Gallipoli campaign, General Ian Hamilton, provided limited details and was, according to Carlyon, very optimistic in its assessment. Godley's autobiography devoted only two sentences to the battle. Post-war, the battle formed the basis of a chapter in the second volume of Bean's official history. The battle is depicted in the climax of Peter Weir's movie, Gallipoli (1981), although it inaccurately portrays the offensive as a diversion to reduce Ottoman opposition to the landing at Suvla Bay. The battle is also depicted in the Gallipoli miniseries, episode 5: "The Breakout" (air date 2 March 2015). The episode was reviewed for the Honest History website by Peter Stanley.

The Battle of Chunuk Bair (Turkish: Conk Bayırı Muharebesi) was a World War I battle fought between the Ottoman defenders and troops of the British Empire over control of the peak in August 1915. The capture of Chunuk Bair, (Turkish: Çanak Bayır Basin Slope, now Conk Bayırı), the secondary peak of the Sari Bair range, was one of the two objectives of the Battle of Sari Bair. British units that reached the summit of Chunuk Bair early on 8 August 1915 to engage the Turks were the Wellington Battalion of the New Zealand and Australian Division, 7th (Service) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment, and 8th (Service) Battalion, Welch Regiment, both of the 13th (Western) Division. The troops were reinforced in the afternoon by two squads of the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment, also part of the New Zealand and Australian Division. The first troops on the summit were severely depleted by Ottoman return fire and were relieved at 10:30 pm on 8 August by the Otago Battalion (NZ), and the Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment, New Zealand and Australian Division. The New Zealand troops were relieved by 8:00 pm on 9 August by the 6th Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, and 5th Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment, who were massacred and driven off the summit in the early morning of 10 August, by an Ottoman counter-attack led by Mustafa Kemal. The British August Offensive at Anzac Cove and Suvla was an attempt to try to break the stalemate that the Gallipoli Campaign had become. The capture of Chunuk Bair was the only success for the Allies of the campaign but it was fleeting as the position proved untenable. The Ottomans recaptured the peak for good a few days later.The failure of the Allies to capture Krithia or make any progress on the Cape Helles front, led General Ian Hamilton, commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (MEF) to pursue a new plan to secure the Sari Bair Range and capture the high ground of Hill 971 and Chunuk Bair. Both sides had been reinforced, with Hamilton's original five divisions increased to 15 divisions and the six original Ottoman divisions having grown to a force of 16 divisions. The British planned to land two fresh infantry divisions from IX Corps (Lieutenant-General Frederick Stopford), at Suvla, 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Anzac, followed by an advance on Sari Bair from the north-west to Hill 971.[3]At Anzac an offensive would be made against the Sari Bair range by the New Zealand and Australian Division (Major-General Alexander Godley) on the northern flank advancing through rough and thinly defended terrain north of the Anzac perimeter. The division had been reinforced with most of the 13th (Western) Division (Lieutenant-General F. C. Shaw), the 29th Indian Infantry Brigade and the Indian Mountain Artillery Brigade, to about 20,000 front-line infantry. The attack would be conducted by a Right Assaulting Column up Rhododendron Spur to Chunuk Bair and the Left Assaulting Column would divide at Aghyl Dere and half would advance across Damakjelik Spur and Azma Dere to the Abdul Rahman Spur and then attack Hill 971, the other part of the force would move to the right up Damakjelik Spur to Hill Q. To prevent delays, a Right Covering Force was to take Destroyer Hill, Table top, Old No 3 Post and Bauchop's Hill and the Left Covering Force was to reach Walden Point, cross Aghyl Dere and take Damakjelik Bair. The Battle of Chunuk Bair チュヌクベアの戦い

かつて戦争によって西ドイツ東ドイツに分断された話は聞いたことがあるんですけど、今で言う朝鮮が北朝鮮と南朝鮮に分断された感じとにてるんでしょうか？ どこかで聞いたことある話だなと思ったら、たしか北緯三十七度線(戦？)で分断されたのも同じ経緯でしょうか？ 戦争によって、国土が奪われたか、または政府によって分けさせられたのか、よくわかんないけどポイントが似てるのはたしかです

Action of the Cockcroft See also: Inverness Copse and Action of 22 August 1917 Roads and German strongpoints east of St Julien On 19 August, in the Action of the Cockcroft parties from the 48th (South Midland) Division and a composite company of the 1st Tank Brigade attacked up the St Julien–Poelcappelle road to capture fortified farms, blockhouses and pollboxes. The tanks were to attack Hillock Farm, Triangle Farm, Maison du Hibou, the Cockcroft, Winnipeg Cemetery, Springfield and Vancouver. The advance was covered by a smoke barrage and aircraft flying low to disguise the sound of the tanks. The infantry follow up when the tank crews signalled and occupied the strong points. Hillock Farm was captured at 6:00 a.m. and fifteen minutes later Maison du Hibou was captured. Triangle Farm was overrun soon afterwards, when tanks drove the garrisons under cover where they were unable to engage the infantry behind the tanks. A female tank ditched 50 yd (46 m) from the Cockcroft at 6:45 a.m. The tank crews had 14 casualties and the attacking infantry 15 men, instead of the expected 600–1,000 losses; about 100 German casualties and 30 taken prisoner. On 20 August a special gas and smoke bombardment took place on Jehu Trench, beyond Lower Star Post on the front of the 24th Division in the II Corps area. The 61st Division in the XIX Corps area took a German outpost near Somme Farm and on 21 August, the 38th Division (XIV Corps), pushed forward its left flank.

Operation Albion was the German land and naval operation from September–October 1917 to invade and occupy the West Estonian Archipelago, then part of the Autonomous Governorate of Estonia, Russian Republic. The land campaign opened with landings at the Tagalaht, Saaremaa on 11 October 1917, after extensive naval activity to clear mines and subdue coastal artillery batteries. The Germans secured the island by 16 October. The Russian Army evacuated Muhu on 18 October. After two failed attempts, the Germans managed to land on Hiiumaa on 19 September and captured the island on the following day. The Russian Baltic Fleet had to withdraw from the Suur Strait after its losses at the Battle of Moon Sound. The Germans claimed 20,000 prisoners and 100 guns captured during the Operation Albion from 12 October.At the beginning of World War I the islands were of little importance to either Imperial Russia or Germany. After the revolutionary turmoil in Russia during 1917, the German high command believed capturing the islands would outflank Russian defences and lay St. Petersburg vulnerable to attack. German units 42nd Division 2nd Infanterie Cyclist Brigade Sonderverband (Special Task force): "Vizeadmiral' Ehrhard Schmidt Flagship: Moltke III. Geschwader: Vizeadmiral Paul Behncke in command of dreadnought battleships König, Bayern, Grosser Kurfürst, Markgraf, and Kronprinz IV. Geschwader: Vizeadmiral Wilhelm Souchon in command of dreadnought battleships Kaiser, Friedrich der Grosse, Kaiserin, Prinzregent Luitpold, and König Albert II. Aufklärungsgruppe: Konteradmiral Ludwig von Reuter in command of cruisers Königsberg, Karlsruhe, Danzig, Frankfurt, and Nürnberg VI. Aufklärungsgruppe: Konteradmiral Albert Hopman in command of cruisers Kolberg, Strassburg, Augsburg, Nautilus, and Blitz Torpedoboats Flagship: Emden II Flottille (10 boats) VIII Flottille (11 boats) VI Flottille (11 boats) X Flottille (11 boats) 7th Half-Flottille (7 boats) U-Flottille Kurland (6 boats) Sperrbrechergruppe. II Minesweeper Flottille 3rd Half-Flottille 4th Half-Flottille 8th Half-Flottille 3rd Such-Half-Flottille Such-Flottille of the Baltic Netbarrier Unit of the Baltic Russian units 425th, 426th and 472nd Infantry Regiments Battleships: Tsesarevich, Slava Armored cruiser: Admiral Makarov Destroyers: Desna, Novik, Pobeditel, Zabijaka, Grom, Konstantin Gunboats: Chivinetz, Grozyashchi Blockship: Lavwija Minelayer: Pripyat British units[edit] Submarines: HMS C26, HMS C27, HMS C32

After 31 July, Gough had ceased attempts to exploit opportunities created by the Fifth Army's attacks and began a process of tactical revision, which with the better weather in September inflicted several costly defeats on the Germans. II Corps had been ordered to capture the rest of the black line on 2 August. The three northern corps of the Fifth Army were then to complete the capture of their part of the green line on 4 August, while XIV Corps and the French First Army crossed the Steenbeek on the left flank. The unusually wet weather had caused the attacks to be postponed until 10 August and the Battle of Langemarck (16–18 August); some of these objectives were still occupied by the Germans after operations later in the month. Principal responsibility for the offensive was transferred to General Plumer on 25 August. The Second Army boundary was shifted north into the area vacated by II Corps on the Gheluvelt plateau. Haig put more emphasis on the southern fringe of the plateau, by giving to the Second Army the bulk of the heavy artillery reinforcements moved from Artois. British offensive preparations Main article: The British set-piece attack in late 1917 The General Headquarters staff of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) quickly studied the results of the attack of 31 July and on 7 August, sent questions to the army headquarters about the new conditions produced by German defence-in-depth. The German army had spread strong points and pillboxes in the areas between their defensive lines and made rapid counter-attacks with local reserves and Eingreif divisions, against Allied penetrations. Plumer issued a preliminary order on 1 September, which defined the Second Army area of operations as Broodseinde and the area southwards. The plan was based on the use of much more medium and heavy artillery, which had been brought to the Gheluvelt Plateau from VIII Corps on the right of the Second Army and by removing more guns from the Third and Fourth armies in Artois and Picardy.

The increased amount of heavy artillery was to be used to destroy German concrete shelters and machine-gun nests, which were more numerous in German "battle zones", than the "outpost zones" which had been captured in July and August and to engage in more counter-battery fire. Few German concrete pill-boxes and machine gun nests had been destroyed during earlier preparatory bombardments and attempts at precision bombardment between attacks had also failed. The 112 heavy and 210 field guns and howitzers in the Second Army on 31 July, were increased to 575 heavy and medium and 720 field guns and howitzers for the battle, which was equivalent to one artillery piece for every 5 ft (1.5 m) of the attack front and more than double the density in the Battle of Pilckem Ridge. Plumer's tactical refinements sought to undermine the German defence by making a shallower penetration and then fighting the principal battle against German counter-attack (Eingreif) divisions. By further reorganising infantry reserves, Plumer ensured that the depth of the attacking divisions roughly corresponded to the depth of local German counter-attack reserves and their Eingreif divisions. More infantry was provided for the later stages of the advance, to defeat German counter-attacks, by advancing no more than 1,500 yd (1,400 m) before consolidating their position. When the Germans counter-attacked they would encounter a British defence-in-depth, protected by artillery and suffer heavy casualties to little effect, rather than the small and disorganised groups of British infantry that the Germans had driven back to the black line on the XIX Corps front on 31 July. Minor operations During a lull in early September, both sides tried to improve their positions; on 1 September, a determined German attack at Inverness Copse was repulsed. Further north in the XIX Corps area, a battalion of the 61st Division rushed Hill 35 but only took a small area; another attempt on 3 September failed.

Next day, the division attacked Aisne Farm and was repulsed but the neighbouring 58th Division took Spot Farm. On 5 September, the 61st Division tried again at night, took a German outpost on Hill 35 and then lost it to a counter-attack. An attack from south of Hill 35 by the 42nd Division with the 125th Brigade and part of the 127th Brigade, took place on 6 September. For several days, practice barrages were conducted and a daylight reconnaissance by a small party probed to within 25 yd (23 m) of Beck House. During the night, the Germans sent up many flares and rockets, disclosing their barrage line and many undetected posts. The British barrage schedule required four rounds per-gun-per-minute but the gunners fired up to ten. The 125th Brigade attacked Iberian, Borry and Beck House farms and captured Beck House but small-arms fire from Hill 35 stopped the rest of the attack, which was a costly failure. The Germans retook Beck House at 10.45 a.m. and enfiladed the rest of the attackers, who were withdrawn, except on the extreme right. Another German counter-attack at 7.30 p.m. by fresh storm-troops forced the battalion to retire, except from a small area 150 yd (140 m) forward, which was abandoned next day; the division had c. 800 casualties. Another night attack by the 61st Division on Hill 35 failed and in the XVIII Corps area, a company of the 51st Division made an abortive raid on Pheasant Trench. Two battalions of the 58th Division conducted raids on 8 September and next day the 24th Division in II Corps, withstood another determined German attack at Inverness Copse. On 11 September, a night attack by a battalion of the 42nd Division failed to capture The Hut. A covering party for a group of soldiers working in no man's land discovered an Inniskilling Fusilier, who had lain out wounded since 11 August, subsisting on rations recovered from dead soldiers. On 13 September, the Guards Division was pushed back from the far side of the Broembeek and the Wijdendreft road.

After dawn, aerodromes were periodically to be attacked by small formations of low-flying fighters and by day bombers from high-altitude. German defensive preparations Main article: German defensive preparations: June–July 1917 From mid-1917, the area east of Ypres was defended by six German defensive positions the front position, Albrechtstellung (second position), Wilhemstellung (third position), Flandern I Stellung (fourth position), Flandern II Stellung (fifth position) and Flandern III Stellung (under construction). Between the German defence positions, lay the Belgian villages of Zonnebeke and Passchendaele. "Elastic" defence tactics had been rejected by the 4th Army Chief of Staff, Major-General Fritz von Loßberg, who believed that a tactical withdrawal by trench garrisons would disorganise the counter-attacking reserves, leading to the loss of the sector and danger to flanking units. Loßberg ordered the front line of sentry groups (Postengraben) to be held rigidly; British attacks would exhaust themselves and then be repulsed by local German reserves or by Eingreif divisions. Loßberg also judged that there was little prospect of British attacks being delayed by their need to move artillery forward and build supply routes. The British had a huge mass of artillery and the infrastructure necessary to supply it with ammunition, much of it built opposite the Flandern I Stellung in the period between the attack at Messines and 31 July. German defensive tactics had been costly but succeeded on the front of XIX Corps on 31 July and against II Corps on the Gheluvelt Plateau on 31 July and during August, although the counter-attacks had been stopped in their turn by British artillery fire, when they reached areas where observation and communications between British infantry and artillery had been restored. Ludendorff later wrote that losses in the August battles had been unexpectedly high. The pause in British operations in early September helped to mislead the Germans. General von Kuhl (Chief of Staff, Army Group Crown Prince Rupprecht) doubted that the offensive had ended but by 13 September had changed his mind.

Despite urging caution, Kuhl sent two divisions, thirteen heavy batteries and twelve field batteries of artillery, three fighter squadrons and four other air force units from the 4th Army. In the area about to be attacked, the army had six ground-holding divisions backed by three Eingref divisions and 750 guns. The 19th Division in IX Corps covered the southern defensive flank of the attack front, against the German 9th Reserve and 207th divisions, on a 1,600 yd (1,500 m) front, from the Comines canal to Groenenburg Farm, on the west slope of the Bassevillebeek valley. The six attacking battalions of the 58th Brigade on the right and the 57th Brigade on the left and their supporting battalions had a difficult approach. The 58th Brigade had to pass through obstructions in Opaque Wood and Imperfect Copse and then at midnight it began to rain until 5:00 a.m. Zero hour was decided according to the weather and the time of 5:40 a.m. was passed forward at 1:45 a.m., so all ranks had to lie quiet in the rain for more than three hours. Around dawn a heavy mist formed and at 5:40 a.m. the barrage began. On the right, the short advance to the first objective (red line) was met with opposition from dugouts south-west of Hessian Wood, Jarrocks Farm, Pioneer House and a small wood nearby. Machine-gun fire was also encountered from Hollebeke Château and the railway embankment. The right battalion reached the objective on time but the two to the left had many casualties, lost touch with their flanking units and the barrage, until the pause on the red line (first objective) allowed them to reorganise, mop-up and regain touch with units which had lost direction. The third battalion on the left was still held up by Hessian Wood so a defensive flank was formed facing north. The 57th Brigade advanced to the red line against slight opposition on the right, while the two battalions on the left had to cross an extremely boggy area, which slowed them and they lost the barrage. The delay resulted in them being caught by machine-gun fire from dugouts near Top House while bunched up, because of the heavy going.

The Quadrilateral commanded the western approach to the spur and the rise northwards to the pill-boxes at Tower Hamlets. The left hand brigade of the division reached the third objective and threw back its right flank to the brigade on the right, which had advanced just beyond the second objective and then joined the left flank of 39th Division. Despite the failure to capture Tower Hamlets, parts of the two leading battalions of 124th Brigade running away before being rallied and two dead and three wounded battalion commanders, the division defeated all German counter-attacks during the day. The 23rd Division was held up for a short time by a German strong point in Dumbarton Wood, which had been missed by the barrage and caused many casualties. Despite the delay and the difficulty of navigating through clouds of dust and smoke caused by the barrage and the marshy ground north of Dumbarton Lake, the first objective was reached a few minutes after the barrage and consolidated along the source of the Bassevillebeek. The 69th Brigade on the left managed to get through Inverness Copse but German troops emerged from cover and fired on the troops behind as they moved up to attack the second objective, causing severe losses, before they were killed or captured. The troops, who had been severely reduced in numbers following on through the Copse, were still able to capture a line of German fortifications along Menin Road, north of the hamlet of Kantinje Cabaret. Of four tanks attached for the attack along Menin Road, one bogged early and the infantry advance was too swift for the other three tanks to keep up. A tank was knocked out on the road and the other two carried ammunition and equipment to the troops at the final objective. The 1st Australian Division on the right of I Anzac Corps, advanced on a 1,000 yd (910 m) front north of the Menin Road, with its right aimed at FitzClarence Farm, against part of the Bavarian Ersatz Division and most of the 121st Division. The Australians passed through Glencorse Wood, which had changed hands twice in August and quickly suppressed German resistance.